A Case for Studying History

I thought the idea that lack of writing contributed to the fall of the Inca to be fascinating. In Chapter 3 Diamond says that the Incan chief had no experience with previous invaders and no knowledge of invasions from other parts of the world. This included the recent conquest of the Aztecs in Mexico. For this reason, he showed a marked lack of suspicion when meeting Pizarro and was captured. Whereas the spaniards were "heirs to a huge body of knowledge about human behavior and history." Just an awareness of other people's fates might have made the chief more suspicious and saved him.

I passed Founding Mothers on to Doris S. Don't know if she's had a chance to read it, but you could ask her if you see her. Her area of expertise is American History.

Just getting started with the blog. I'm enjoying the book so far. He is an excellent writer with interesting material.

Guns, Germs and Steel

How's the reading going so far? I'm about 1/2 through but can't read a great deal at one setting. I'm looking forward to the last section.